Believe it or not, Daniel Farke actually possesses one of the strongest, deepest squads in the Championship at Leeds United.
Casual observers would be forgiven for letting that pass them by.
Because, during an exhausting run of 16 Championship matches between Boxing Day and the March international break, Daniel Farke appeared to view rotation and rest as something of a last-resort.
The former Norwich City boss has always preferred to keep a settled side. And, having come within touching distance of a third promotion last season, his methods clearly tend to work.
Yet, as Leeds dropped yet more valuable points at Luton Town in Saturday’s early kick-off, fears growing about yet another Spring-time collapse. A team embroiled in a toxic relationship with the play-offs from which they seemingly cannot escape, there is a nagging feeling that Farke’s chickens are coming home to roast.
Manor Solomon is a pale imitation of his former self. It is eight games now since the Tottenham loanee provided either a goal or an assist. Ao Tanaka is also struggling for form, afforded only an hour off after returning to Yorkshire from representing Japan thousands of miles away.
That Willy Gnonto was made to wait until April 5th to start a Championship game for the first time in 2025, meanwhile, speaks volumes about Farke’s potentially self-defeating aversion to rotation.
Daniel Farke praises Dan James as Leeds United teammates toil at Luton Town
The under-pressure Leeds boss is confident that Tanaka’s ‘patchy’ form is not down to fatigue. He argues that Solomon, meanwhile, is simply going through a ‘dry’ spell in the final third.
And as Dan James ended a seven-game goal drought with a sublime curling finish into the far corner against Luton – cancelling out Isaiah Jones’ early opener on the half-hour mark – Farke will be praying that a return to prominence is waiting just around the corner from his other near ever-presents.
“We needed to be ready for physical game and we were. We stayed cool and equalised with a great finish from Dan James,” Farke said, labelling the 1-1 scoreline a ‘good point’ on the road against a team fighting tooth and nail against relegation even if it leaves Leeds third in a three-horse race.
“[Solomon in contrast is] of course a bit dry in terms of end product. But you have that in 46-game season. We have many players who can score goals.
“Overall, this is not the problem. We have scored the most goals in the league. But small details are always crucial.”
Farke did make two rare changes to his starting XI at Kenilworth Road.
Gnonto impressed Farke when replacing Brenden Aaronson in the number ten spot at half-time against QPR recently. The Italian was given the nod to play that central role from the start in Luton a fortnight later.
Karl Darlow replaced Illan Meslier, meanwhile, with Farke opting to remove his maligned goalkeeper from the blinding spotlight.
Farke gives mixed response to Willy Gnonto and Karl Darlow displays
On an afternoon of mixed returns, Gnonto struggled to exert any sort of influence while lasting only 60 minutes. Darlow, though, did everything he needed to do with a quiet authority. The veteran glovesman also made one smart stop down to his left to keep out Luton’s Thelo Aasgaard.
“Solid. [Darlow] was not involved in too many scenes [but] his body language, he calmed everybody down,” Farke adds. “He looked very reliable. This game was important for his confidence
“Overall, we got the feeling the day was the day [for Gnonto] to come in.
“I want my number tens to press. It was a difficult game for him, of course, he was not shining that much.”
Has Farke simply left it too late in the day to shuffle his pack and keep his star players fresh for the decisive final few games? As Leeds suffer injuries to both Pascal Struijk and Joe Rothwell, Farke’s ability to use his squad to it’s full potential will be restricted over the last six matchdays.
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